Adventure Hiking Trail (Indiana) 06/01/0 7-06/03/07

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I'm planning on doing the entire (24 miles) Adventure Hiking Trail in southern Indiana, depending on how much interest I get.

If no one joins me on Friday I may modify it a bit to make it shorter or might even switch the location all together to the nearby Two Lakes Loop trail.

I'm waiting on a map in the mail before I post specifics. If possible, I'll probably choose a route that puts us near a trail head Friday night for those that want to join us Friday night/Saturday morning. From what I've read we will probably need to cache water (though I said that once on the Knobstone and it rained 6 inches the first day).

Stay tuned for more details.

Here's some good info:

http://www.backpackcamp.com/Harrison.html

http://www.trails.com/trail_reviews.asp?trailid=HGM055-033

Map:

http://www.backpackcamp.com/HarrisonMap.html”

“Hey Thrifty,

I'm probably up for this. Are you thinking of hiking some miles on Friday, or just meeting Friday night?”

“hey, i was hoping you'd show up...i tried inviting you but couldn't find your email

it depends on the interest...if there's enough i'd like to start friday morning so we could do about 8+ a day”

“Sounds like a good one. Thanks for the invite. That is State Championship weekend for me tho.”

“I bet Randall wants to go - he has fond memories of the Adventure Trail!”

“Thrifty,

It's about a 5 hour drive for me, so I don't think I'll be there any earlier than 10. It's a great trail tho..and easy to get lost in places. Not that we ever do! :d”

“Oh the HUMANITY!!! LOL! Enjoy folks. I can't do this one.”

“come on randal, you know you want some revenge”

“i may switch my plans to this trip,and avoid the mob hike.the big draw to this trail for me is randall made it sound so enjoyable.”

“I don't know if I can get away for a 3 day hike, but if you decide to change it to thw two lakes loop, let me know. I want to go.”

“LOL, i know exactly what you mean brett...my last 3 hikes were mob hikes, i almost made this private”

“i can swing both trips,count me in on this one.”

“all day friday?”

“sounds good to me.”

“Did it only rain six inches? Surely it was more than that!”

“Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!!!!

I look forward to the TR and hope that everyone makes it back alive without any parasites or compromised underwear.
YOU WILL GET LOST!!!
and you will run out of water unless you stash some!!

Thrifty!!
You might think of advertising for a guide!! I am sure there is someone out there who knows the whole thing well!!!
After you do it, you might just be the TT go to guy for The Adventure Trail!!
Oh yeah, gonna be lots a ticks and Deer fly’s that time o year.
See ya later.
Randall”

“good god, thanks for poo pooing on this trip...now no one will sign up

never mind what randall says, i promise great weather, abundant water, no bugs and fun to be had by all”

“hey hiking machine, you down for friday as well?...do you still have your notre dame email address?”

“Thrifty,

Yeah, I'll be there Friday morning around 10. You can email me anytime at: davis.10@nd.edu.

C'mon, Randall don't be a puss. We won't let you drink the river water! LOL”

“I am thinking of coming out to this trip. It would be great to finally meet some of the TT hikers.

Would we need to Cache water? Is it ok if I bring my dog? He is very sweet....and polite.”

“we'll probably address the water situation closer to the hike depending on what/if rain falls right before the hike but i'm thinking we'll probably need to cache...we'll make those arrangements later too

i'm fine with your dog coming and my bring mine as well...although i've heard the ticks are pretty bad in this area”

“Thrifty!!
I wasn’t trying to ruin your trip!!
Here are some good things about the Adventure Trail!!!!

1.The hands down best Trail Shelters in the entire state, Hand Hewn, Full log, Tin roofed, dove tail jointed master pieces!! Some even have stone fireplaces!!!
2.Some of the best views of the Ohio River that you will ever see!!
3.Alternate trails that can take you to the State Forest campground that even has a stainless steel walled swimming pool!!!
4.Many challenging climbs!!
5.You get to cross the Big Blue River on an old trestle bridge!!! (at least you used too!!)
6.Deep Hardwood Forests!!
7.Lots of wild life!!!
8.There is a real spring at the Wyandotte Lake Trail Shelter. Super good water and always cold!!!
9.If you know where to look, there are more than 10 very large caves within 200 yards of the trail!! I been in three and they go real deep and have huge rooms in them!!!
10.There always seem to be lots of friendly people on or around the trail!!

There ya go!!
See ya later.
Randall
last edited: 5/07/07 6:02:23 PM”

“Yeah, the shelter on the Ohio River is one of my favorite campsites. You're looking down on the Ohio River from about 3 to 400 feet.”

“Well, I got my map yesterday and I'm not too impressed. It's just a print out on computer paper from a mapping program, but I'm not sure what I expected for free.

I've heard the mileage for this trail described anywhere from 22-27 miles. The mileage is marked on my map at 20.3, not including the trail that goes off to the Blue River Chapel which is 1.3.

I've updated the proposed route with the mileage from the map I received. That only leaves 6.9 for Saturday which isn't very much.

I'd like to stay one night at the Ohio River shelter because I've heard so much about it but I can't figure out a good route that would give us 10ish miles on Saturday and I've tried it every which way. I'm open to suggestions from anyone as I've never been here before. If we can't get a better route we can just take it easy Saturday. Maybe sleep in and that will give us time to goof off and explore at the next site. Plus, if anyone's joining us Saturday morning that will give us time to meet up. It's a 1.1 mile hike from trail head A to the Ohio River Shelter.
last edited: 5/09/07 7:30:17 AM”

“Hey Thrifty,

I think your original plan was good. I have a good map, and I'll scan it in the next week, and email you the map.”

“sounds good...i might see if randall won't mind pointing out some of those caves for us”

“Thrifty,

I looked at my map briefly the other day, and I think the mileage is right at 24.5 miles.”

“Thrifty. It looks like HiknMachine is in, so you've got no problem. He can get lost as easy as anyone I've ever been with... wait a minute, I'm the one who get's lost.. HM just knows the trail from being with me on hikes when we've been lost. Ask him about the time we found the Ohio River by accident. As for my attendence, it does not look so likely, since I'll be out the previous weekend in Yellowwood Forest. But you never know, I might make a surprise appearance. Have fun. GH”

“27 miles? we can do that in one day,are you sure you won't join us randall?”

“sorry cant make this one!"(”

“. . . don't be a sissy. This trip has your name written all over it. If it weren't for your experiences on this trail what would we have to listen to around the campfire? Go out and discover new stories to tell!!!”

“Golfhiker,

A river is a river isn't it? hehehe

gforce,

Aren't you supposed to be out hiking somewhere? What's the latest???”

“ok, i'll bite...who's chicknfkr?
last edited: 5/11/07 7:18:03 AM”

“chicknfkr?...mohawkman33=oo brett. mozilla updated on me and i forgot my password,so i guess i have a new name.ya i know i should write it down however....”

“ahh haa!!...i found out who chicknfkr is...it's my own brother in law!...he'll be joining us”

“Thrifty!!,
Soooooo......Your sister....
Can't do it!!!! Must fight the dark side!!!
Gotta...turn... off...the....computer!!
Se ya la................”

“wrong version of brother in law, not sister's husband but wife's brother...good try though”

“Hey Thrifty,

It's bad enough I have to hike with you, but now some of your familys coming too! :-)”

“can't make this one, but thanks for the invite”

“Thrifty,

I think we're probably going to want to cache water, because I don't remember crossing to many flowing streams. Just one that I recall. Just a thought...”

“yeah, i've been thinking that too...what's indian creek like?...would it be suitable for saturday night?

i was looking at the route and thought it lends itself perfectly to hike friday with just day packs...we could stash our gear and water at the trail head near the ohio river shelter?”

“I don't remember how good Indian Creek was. It doesn't look to promising on the map. We'll probably want to carry extra water from the Pioneer Cabin to be on the safe side.”

“on all the maps i've seen, including the one you scanned me, it's solid blue and pretty wide which would indicate that it's year round...i just wonder what the quality is like”

“i just wanted to touch base with everyone...no one's posted in a while

salem/mohawkman you guys still it?

salem, do you know if uplover's going?”

“i just spoke to a ranger and he said that indian creek is a full time creek...he said he couldn't be 100% for sure since it's been so dry lately but it should have water flowing near the shelter but he did say you might have to climb down a good size bluff to get to it”

“Hey Thrifty,

I'm still in for this one. Did you still want to carpool, or just meet us down there? I'm probably not going to get down to the Adventure Trail any earlier than 10:30.

I'm going to see UPluver this weekend, so I'll ask him then, and ask him to post.”

“No he doesn't know cause UP doesn't even know yet :p~ lol
Actually I'm about 95% sure I'm goin make it...just waiting to see if my vac. day gets approved....I should find out in the next day or so.”

“10:30 huh?...with the mileage not being so certain i don't know if that's enough time for this slow poke...you on the other hand could probably start at 4:00pm and still be fine...that should be fine...what's the mileage look like on your map?”

“Thrifty,

Not sure what the mileage is, but the first day will have the biggest ups, and downs. We could probably be at your house at 8. I was thinking it took us close to 2 1/2 hours from Indy to get down there. Let me know.”

“that should be fine”